Various gases and hydrocarbon gases used in chemical plants, petro-chemical plants, power generation plants and gas production, transmission and distribution systems must be dried in order to prevent damage to equipment and/or contamination of of the process or processes.
Devices which remove the liquid from the gas are of two types: (1) a filter mesh screen, and (2) a vane separator. The principle behind vane separators is to cause the gas to wipe against the plates thereby causing the liquid to be condensed on the plates and drain therefrom.
This invention is addressed to an improvement in vane separators.
Vane separators heretofore have employed a plurality of plates having pockets secured to the curved surfaces thereof so that as the gas passes through the curved vanes, the liquid will contact the pockets and be removed therefrom. However, such plates must be formed from two separate plates on which the pockets are welded or otherwise secured. Such pockets are turned against the direction of flow of gases therethrough and create high resistance to gas flow, thereby reducing pressure on the outlet side of the separator.